England skipper Joe Root on Friday became the ninth batsman to slam a century in his 100th Test match. Root remained unbeaten on 128 on Day 1 of the first Test against India at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
This was Root's 20th century. He brought up his century off 164 balls, with the help of 12 boundaries. This was his third century in as many Tests, with earlier two coming in Sri Lanka in the previous series that England won 2-0, just before the team reached India for this series.
Root also became only the third cricketer to play both his first and 100th Test match in the same country he was touring. Root had made his debut in Nagpur in 2012 when England won the series 2-1. Today's ton was his fifth against India in 17 matches.
Meanwhile, Twitter hailed the English skipper after his century. "Typical exceptional batsmanβs hundred. Made with plenty left in the tank," tweeted commentator Sanjay Manjrekar. "A century in a 100th test for @root66. He has been magnificent. Love how he has targetted bowlers," said Harsha Bhogle.
Check out a few tweets:
Meanwhile, it was the 10th instance of a batsman scoring a century in his 100th Test match. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is the only batsman to score centuries in both innings of his 100th Test, against South Africa in 2006.
Besides, West Indies' Karl Hooper and India's Kapil Dev are the two others cricketers to make their Test debut and play their 100th Test in the same country. While Kapil made his debut (1978) and played his 100th Test (1989) in Pakistan, Hooper achieved that milestone in India (1987 and 2002).